DEC East Africa Crisis appeal raises £12m in one day
Howard Lake | 16 March 2017 | News
In less than 24 hours the UK public has donated £12 million to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s (DEC) appeal for the crisis in East Africa.
The first day’s total was made up of £7 million in donations by the public, the first £5 million of which were matched by the UK Government through the Aid Match Fund.
The DEC launched the East Africa Crisis appeal yesterday, 15 March. Drought and conflict have left 16 million people on the brink of starvation and in urgent need of food, water and medical treatment.
AMAZING! You've raised £12 million for the DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal. Thank you! https://t.co/ajddbyHdNr #FightingFamine pic.twitter.com/eQZt2882mu
— DEC (@decappeal) March 16, 2017
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On its website the charity acknowledges the latest donors by first name and sum in a ticker-tape style feed across the bottom of the page.
DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed said:
“People in the UK have, once again, shown their huge generosity and we’re very grateful for their response to the devastating humanitarian crisis in East Africa.
“The powerful TV appeals highlighted the desperate situation of families, children and older people. This has really struck a chord with the public, who have recognised the urgency of the crisis.”
16 million people at risk of starvation. We must move now to reduce the scale of the crisis https://t.co/iTRhczAR2X #FightingFamine pic.twitter.com/J3J1bMvdlw
— DEC (@decappeal) March 15, 2017
The DEC does not compare totals of different campaigns. Nevertheless, this first day’s total compares favourably with other emergency appeals. You can read our September 2014 summary of recent DEC emergency appeal totals in chart form.
Meanwhile the Scottish government has confirmed that it will donate £200,000 to the appeal.
FM @NicolaSturgeon confirms @ScotGov will donate £200k to East Africa @decappeal #fightingfamine https://t.co/vmrhgWexPW
— Scottish Government International (@ScotGovInter) March 16, 2017
Main photo: six-month-old Dahir in Somalia – (c) Colin Crowley/Save the Children
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.